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Tammy Duckworth (D – Chicago Machine) Is Obama’s Choice for Veterans Affairs?

By 1124 on April 3, 2009 at 12:05 AM in Barack Obama

From Larry Johnson–This piece should never have gone up in the first place. My fault for not catching it.

Those upset with Tammy Duckworth’s foray into political expedience by agreeing to run in a district where she did not live nor have longstanding ties should also condemn Hillary Clinton and Bobby Kennedy, among others. Tammy is not a machine politician and has not done anything to demonstrate a desire or willingness to participate in graft and corruption.

I apologize for allowing this article to go up. My bad.

  • KintheNorthwest

    So how much back taxes does he owe????? LOL

    • Chicago Joe

      Tammy Duckworth is an honorable person who served her country well, and then has attempted a political career. She actually ran for Congress in the western suburbs but lost, then eventually was offered these different government positions. Other than the fact that it is hard in Illinois politics to stay pure and clean, she has no history whatsoever with the Chicago machine that I am aware of.

  • ChrisNJboy

    You forgot Valerie Jarrett

  • rw

    Guess Axelrod did not have Acorn voter fraud as part of the campaign strategy in 2006.

    Guess they want Tammy cause Tammy might have proven herself to be willing to play their Chicago game.

  • http://none Peg

    Why are you attacking Tammy Duckworth?

    Who better to be in a top VA position than a veteran who has given two legs and an arm for her country? (The top position has been filled – The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Eric K. Shinseki.)

    • rw

      The Defense Dpt. states she lost one leg when a rock propelled grenade hit her Black Hawk.

      Not minimizing it, just making a statement.

  • Carol HAKA

    Fox News is reporting N Korea launched the rocket. Japan confirmed it flew over Japan.

    Let’s see what the idiot does about it!

    CAROL HAKA :evil:

  • bill

    Dare I ask what administrative experience she has. Having escaped from Illinois years ago, fleeing to the clean politics of Minnesota, I am dismayed that Illinois corruption is taking over our national government. Common Cause and other “clean government” groups were in response to Watergate. I hope that good government groups would step up to call the Obama admin on cronyism like this.

  • I’mFedUp

    Sorry, OT…North Korea launched a rocket. Good thing we have the moron fraud in office. I feel really safe now, don’t you? WTF?

    http://news.aol.com/article/north-korea-launches-rocket/412587?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fnorth-korea-launches-rocket%2F412587

    • John Smith

      I guess they gave the finger to BO. Make a bet he will read something of a teleprompter and then will do nothing. They will just let these crazies keep developing what ever technology they want.

      I wonder what it will take for the world to realize that we will end up paying dearly if we don’t do something about these things.

  • Katherine B.

    Tammy Duckworth was a helicopter pilot in the Iraq war and she lost her leg as a result of hostile fire. I have no knowledge of her involvement in dirty Chicago politics, but I hope we can at least acknowledge that she had the courage to serve her country in the military, which is a hell of a lot more than we can say for Barry. As a disbaled vet it seems to me she might well be a good candidate for this position dealing with veterans’ issues.

    • candymarl

      She lost both of her legs.

      • obsp

        Tammy is from Chicago but not of Chicago. She is a very honorable women and if you meet her one time you would know. Also her husband serves in the army and was sent to war shortly after she was appointed. I don’t think there is anyone better that would know what our service people need than Tammy.
        I don’t like the Chicago machine, but again, she’s not of it.

  • NoTrollZone

    O/T (sorry) at http:guerillawomentn.blogspot.com there is a piece up about Congresswoman Speier having introduced a bill to create a presidential commission on the status of women. 26 original cosposors and over 60 women’s orgs have endorsed.
    Check it out and contact your congressfolk to support it if you are so inclined.

    • candymarl

      The status of women? What is this bill about their status and why does over half of the US population need it?

      • alibe

        It sounds like being thrown a bone after the blatant misogyny in 0bama’s campaign and administration. It is a way to pretend to “listen” to bamboozled feminists and give them a say…but no action. I ain’t no “sweetie” and you can’t fool me….PUMA Rules!

  • to77
  • Mr.Murder

    Don’t you even go there. Tammy Duckworth served honorably at great personal cost.

  • IndianaDem

    There’s an informative article about Tammy Duckworth on Wikipedia. Don’t form an opinion about her based soley upon the politically biased claptrap you might find in a couple of the articles linked above.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Duckworth

    Major Duckworth (she’s still serving in the Illinois National Guard) was singled out early on for a $200,000 National Republican Congressional Committee smear campaign. They certainly know a woman with potential when they see one. Unfortunately her’s isn’t the sort of potential they approve of.

    Duckworth has been an unfailing advocate on behalf of American veterans, both personally and in her official capacity. In my own opinion at least, she would be an excellent choice to head Veterans’ Affairs.

  • Peggy Sue

    Tammy Duckworth is part of the Chicago Machine? A double amputee from Iraq. Sorry, but unless the detractors come come up with more evidence, I’m willing to give this young woman the benefit of the doubt, particularly for a position in VA affairs.

    I don’t like this administration or many of its policies. But this nitpicking is stupid in my mind. If she came from Illinois then, of course, she’d have some dealings with Gov Blago. But am I willing to hang her from the highest post for that? No.

    She served her country. She made an ultimate sacrifice. I applaud her perservence and bravery. Who better to empathize with the needs and concerns of our wounded veterans than someone who has been there?

    There are plenty of guilty parties when it comes to the mess we’re in. But Tammy Duckworth doesn’t qualify for vilification. She deserves our gratitude.

    • mountainaires

      Well said, Peggy Sue.

      “[Dan] Roskam slammed Duckworth for a $1,000 campaign contribution from Myron Cherry, an attorney whose name is mentioned in this week’s federal corruption indictment of Antoin Rezko, a close supporter of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.” (Daily Herald, Candidates trade barbs during debate, October 13, 2006)

      Let’s deconstruct the smear of Duckworth receiving money from “the Rezko machine!”

      Fact: Duckworth received a $1000 donation from an attorney “whose name is mentioned” in the indictment of Rezko: Myron Cherry. The money didn’t come from Rezko; the campaign donation was from Myron Cherry, who has apparently not been charged with any crime.

      Fact: There are a lot of people’s names “mentioned” in Rezko’s indictment, including the current President of the United States. Being “mentioned” in the indictment of another person does not make one guilty of any crime, may we all agree on that small fact, whether or not we like Barack Obama?

      Fact: A $1000 donation to Duckworth’s election campaign from an attorney is a common event as anyone ever remotely involved in political campaigns would know–ask Bill and Hillary Clinton;

      Fact: This smear charge came from Dan Roskam who opposed Duckworth in the election. There have been no criminal corruption charges arising from the insinuation.

      Here’s the rub, City Nell:

      If Tammy Duckworth is being smeared because she is supported by Axelrod, Emmanuel and Obama for a cabinet position in Veterans Affairs, I wonder what that means for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is also supported by Axelrod, Emmauel and Barack Obama for a cabinet position.

      I resented the smearing of Hillary Clinton for 15 years based on nonsensical and patently untrue lies then; and I reject the smearing of Tammy Duckworth for the same reasons now.

  • betty

    Don’t you even go there

    ?

    She deserves our gratitude

    ?

    Sorry but no one is getting blind support from me ever again. You may think you sound terribly righteous when you say such things, but you are really just trying to intimidate people into blind submission.

    I want to know who she is, who she was before she went to war. Was the Chicago machine so afraid of Marie Kegalus that anyone would do instead of her? Or is Tammy connected somehow that hasn’t come to light yet? Who is she connected to? Who is her dad, her mom, brothers uncles, why is she favored by the machine? Does she have connections to GE? Why does her name keep popping up? Someone is trying so hard to give her a foot hold, who?

  • http://none Peg

    No one is trying to intimidate anyone into blind submission to anything. We are intelligent adults here.

    I see the author has edited her piece. Last night she wrote that Duckworth was nominated for THE TOP POSITION at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Today the piece says it’s as “Obama’s contact in the VA”.

    In fact, On Feb. 3, Obama nominated her to the position of assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs. Her duties would include directing VA’s public affairs operations, as well as programs for homeless veterans.

    If your questions are relevant, the writer should have raised and answered them. The link she provides (friends of Blago) is very strange.

  • http://none Peg

    Maybe the expression “foot hold” is the wrong one to use.

  • Sassy

    I saw Tammy Duckworth interviewed while she was still recuperating in Walter Reed.
    Her helicopter took a direct hit from the underside and left her with horrible injuries. She held on and got it on the ground. God bless her!
    I don’t know much else about her personally, but she was noble to serve, as well as her husband.
    Is she corrupted by her associations?
    Could be, but she is still heads above them!

  • WMCB

    I don’t like her current associations, but I have not seen that she herself has done anything shady. She may be in on some scam, or she may just be willing to work with whoever she needs to work with to get something good done for vets.

    Di I believe that honorable service and injuries in service entitle someone to my blind trust? Absolutely not. But it does, in my mind, entitle them to a little benefit of the doubt until there is more to go on.

    If it turns out she’s a tool of the Fraud, I’ll be yelling too. Until then, I’ll wait and see.

    • mountainaires

      Don’t be a tool, then. Don’t be City Nell’s tool. There were a lot of “tools” in this world for decades who believed the scurrilous lies and smears of Hillary Clinton, who, amazingly enough, is also appointed and supported by Duckworth’s “current associations” i.e. Axelrod, Emmanuel, and Obama.

      Naive and patently ridiculous allegations and insinuations against a courageous woman demand proof. City Nell has not provided any proof whatsoever; so to give merit to these assertions is the hallmark of a tool.

      • WMCB

        I think that Duckworth’s case is a little different from Hillary’s, because it does not seem that Rahm and the Chicago Boyz maneuvered Hillary into her position, whereas their fingerprints are all over Tammy’s rise.

        That does not make Tammy a tool of Rahm, by any means. She may have leverage we don’t know about, or it may well be that they simply saw that she’d be a good and popular choice. Everything is not sinister – sometimes things are done for sane practical reasons, even by sleazebags.

        I’m not giving merit to the assertions at all. I’m saying that the associations bear watching, but that I as a whole like and respect Duckworth, so will not trash her without more evidence. I will resist being told she’s guilty by association, but I will also resist being told that to have any suspicion at all is unwarranted.

        I won’t be a tool for anyone, thanks – I will remain suspicious of ALL politicians, and watch them closely.

        • mountainaires

          Fair enough. I have to agree that I would try not to be a tool of anyone. Sometimes it’s simply not clear at first what the fact are; but when facts present themselves, it warrants investigation and even a change of opinion. Can’t disagree with you there. And, thanks for the clear statement. :-)

        • betty

          or it may well be that they simply saw that she’d be a good and popular choice

          Except that she wasn’t the popular choice. The popular choice was Marie Kegalus (I think that is how to spell her last name). She worked hard and had a great ground game and was the reason the republican decided to retire rather then run against her again. Marie was a shoe in and Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago machine pushed her out and brought Tammy in – why? Tammy lost the election, why did she agree to displace Marie in the first place? Was that honorable? It has been years since that election and Tammy keeps popping up here or there – why? It is a puzzle.

  • mountainaires

    From everything I’ve seen and read about Duckworth, both in interviews, and articles, she’s an honorable public servant, with a lot of courage and integrity. When Blago, Rezko, Rahm and Obama–not to forget Daly of course–were running the Chicago Machine, everyone became connected to it whether or not they had any choice in the matter. Jesse Jackson Jr was exposed as well. Just because Duckworth was a political appointee by Blago, doesn’t mean Duckworth is culpable for Blago’s crimes.

    This post is a smear by association of a courageous American woman who served her country and believes in its principles. I really don’t think your insinuations have merit. You’ve offered no evidence of corruption or wrongdoing, but you’ve tried to tarnish Duckworth simply because she was appointed by Blagojevich. It’s really not worthy of the paltry effort you put into it.

    • cynic

      This post is a smear by association of a courageous American woman who served her country and believes in its principles.

      I completely agree with you. Major Duckworth appears to be an exceptional young woman in every respect. The sacrifices she has made in the service of her country are obvious. She performed her duty to the highest standards, even while disagreeing with the policies that sent her to war. She has shown no anger or bitterness about what happened to her. She’s been an unfailing advocate for Americans veterans, both personally and in her official capacity.

      I deplore the fact that this promising young woman has been the target of an orchestrated smear campaign, based entirely upon guilt by association and deliberate distortion of the facts, and fail to understand why the outrage about this hasn’t crossed party lines. I would expect that such outrage would be particularly felt by women. I can only assume it is absent because most people haven’t taken the time to look closely at the situation.

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